Dragon's Flower
by MidnightRaven323
Summary: Set in HBP.Veela!Draco. On the 2nd full moon of Malfoy's 16th Year, he comes into his Inheritance. Darker powers are already brewing, yet the stars have foretold of the dragon's Mate -who just so happens to be Pansy Parkinson's Brazilian relation. Meet Bryony Astria Parkinson,Pansy's devilish cousin. . . Draco/OC Pansy/Blaise
1. Transformation

**Heyy~! Midnight here with my first ever Harry Potter fanfic :) Sorry for any grammatical errors,I don't have a Beta.**

**Summary: Set in HBP. On the 2nd full moon of Malfoy's 16th Year, he comes into his Inheritance. Darker powers are already brewing, yet the stars have foretold of the dragon's Mate -who just so happens to be Pansy Parkinson's Brazilian relation.**

**In this story, you'll Meet Bryony Astria Parkinson, Pansy's devilish cousin. . .**

**The Main Cast is as follows:**

**Draco Malfoy~ Tom Felton  
Bryony Parkinson~ Scarlett Byrne  
Pansy Parkinson~Natalie Portman(with her Bob hair cut)  
Blaise Zabini~Louis Cordice**

**Everyone is the same,those four I just wanted to point out,even though Pansy and Bryony are the only ones with different actress es. **

**Read On...**

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**_~Dragon's Flower~_**

_Pain._

That was all Draco could feel at the moment. White hot fire seemed to be flowing through his veins and it was all he could do from screaming out in agony. Cold sweat poured off him as he writhed around in suppressed pain on his four-poster bed, the silk sheets falling into a heap on the floor. His breathing was hard and laboured. Twisting onto his side as yet another wave of searing pain wracked through his body. His stomach churned once again before he was forced to dry-heave for the umpteenth time that night.

Outside, rain continued to pour with thunder masking the pained groans of the Malfoy heir. A brief flash of lightning illuminated the sky as the door handle turned and opened.

"Draco? Draco are you alright?" the voice of Narcissa distracted him from his inner turmoil just that moment. Her usually regal voice was laced with deep concern for her son.

'_Is this how it will be?'_ Draco thought as he bit his lip to muffle his sounds_. 'That my end would come with my mother standing only a few feet away? What a pathetic way to die' _he thought spitefully.

"ARGHHH!" Draco bellowed, a new pain a new pain making itself known between his shoulder blades. He felt as if his muscles were tearing and he swore he could feel his bones snapping.

"Oh my….!" Narcissa gasped in shock, seeing to growths protruding from her son's back. "Lucius! Lucius, come quickly! It's happening!" she shouted urgently as another pained groan emitted from Draco.

Not a moment later, the figure of Lucius Malfoy appeared at his wife's side as if out of thin air. His appearance unusually dishevelled.

Blind and deaf to everything around him save for his own suffering; Draco fisted whatever of his bed sheets remained as his breathing became erratic. Unaware of it, this meant his suffering was nearing it's end.

A bloodcurdling scream tore itself from his mouth when he felt something literally tear itself through his back. Then, everything seemed to go numb.

"_Severus,you came…."_

"…_Might…to late…"_

"…_What about…Mate."_

Those voices were the last thing he heard before all sound vanished from him. The last thing he saw were the worried faces of his parents and Godfather staring down at him, and then darkness took him.

_**Meanwhile, in another city, in another country…**_

_The moon was full as it shone brightly down on the land below,where the night life lights still shone. _

_Rio De Janeiro,Brazil._

_A most breath-taking destination in the muggle world, with sandy beaches and air that was warm on most days. What was most interesting was that tales were told of beautiful people that lived in the estates and manors that lay closest to the forests surrounding this 'paradise'._

_It was in one of these lavish homes that out story continues . . ._

"Mama,make it stop!" a dark-haired begged as she felt the muscles in her back tearing and her bones crack.

"Shh. . .hush now, Bryony" the older woman said as she stroked the hair of the girl in her lap. "Karrera is almost done with the potion" she soothed as her daughter gritted her teeth in a lame attempt to muffle her sounds.

The beautiful raven-haired woman narrowed her hazel-green eyes as she felt the girl tremble and saw tears fall. Her Inheritance transformation was beginning, and that only meant one thing. . .

"Her Mate must be transforming as well tonight." A lilting,accented voice of a regal-looking woman so similar to the first stated, a small glass vial of crystal liquid in her hands. "Bryony,hold out a little longer ,_chica. _Selene,lift her head up."

Bryony groaned in protest as her mother lifted her head up and the cold glass of the vial touched her lips as the potion was poured down her throat.

The pain from her back was numbed in an instant, but that did nothing to muffle the feel of _something _pushing out of her back and the sound of bones breaking, or were they _growing_? She felt herself being lowered back onto the cool sheets of her bed on her stomach, baring her back to the room and it's occupants.

To drained to do so much as move her head,she settled for laying still as she waited to the welcoming embrace of sleep to take her.

The last thing she saw was silver-grey eyes and a serpent,before she succumbed to the world of dreams.

"Oohh~ how exciting!" Karrera smiled, seeing her Godchild's eyes drifting down sleep made itself a welcome distraction to the girl. "It's not often we have a Part-Veela chosen as a mate and undergo the transformation, a Part-Veela transforming at all is a rarity in itself."

"Her mate must be strong. . .to transform during the Full moon instead of the New" Selene said wistfully,lowering her voice to not wake her sleeping child.

Karrera scoffed and perched herself on one of the round, white-leather seats at the foot of the bed. " That is something I can assure you of. After all,it was me who read her stars on the day of her birth."

Silence passed for a moment, the aroma of fruit and spices and the natural sent of the tropical forest wafting through the breeze.

"We leave for England tomorrow, it's time for Bryony to see the other half of her family, Valerian's been dying to go back." Selene reminded the older-but no less radiant- woman. "There is also a high chance that her Mate shall be attending Hogwarts as well."

"England? What does England have that Rio doesn't?" Karrera scoffed.

"The Ministry, the rest of the Parkinsons, higher chances of Bry's Mate, not to mention the train leaves from there to Hogwarts. . ." Selene listed off. " She can't stay home-schooled forever, she needs to be with others her age and learn about the rest of the Wizarding World. Not only of our small community of Veelas. Even our European vela cousins have sent their daughters and even sons to Beuxbatons in France."

"Well then," Karrera relented,"We can only hope everything goes smoothly."

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**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter,thats just a taste of what's to come :)**

**REVIEW!**

**~MidnightRaven323**


	2. The Morning After

**Back with another chapter! Sorry for the wait, but be warned I may not update regularly. Also, thank you for the reviews!**

**Just wanted to point out I made a mistake in the previous chapter, even though it was only one word. I used Spanish word for girl, chica, instead of the intended Portuguese ,menina.**

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**_~Dragon's Flower~_**

Have you ever had one of those days where you wake up and feel. . .Different?

To Draco Malfoy, it was one of those days.

Awaking to the sight of his lavish room decked out in Slytherin green and silver, nothing seemed out of the norm. Yet at the same time, something was off.

Rising from the bed, his sheets dropped away revealing his bare torso and the grey bottoms he had donned in the evening before. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he trekked through his bedroom to his en suite bathroom of black marble.

One look into the bathroom mirror made him halt in his tracks.

Draco shook his head, making sure he was fully awake before checking himself again.

It seemed as if his appearance had changed overnight - which wasn't too far from the truth. The most obvious change was his height: he had gone from his original 5'9 to 6'1 in just one night. Not only that, but his muscles seemed more prominent than before. Even though years of Quidditch had toned and strengthened his body, the change was still noticeable. Though still lean, his abs were more defined, his chest broader, his muscles more corded and not an ounce of fat remained. His hair still remained it's fair blonde colour, though it had grown a bit, just brushing his shoulders and falling into his steel-grey eyes.

_'I need a haircut._' Draco concluded, turning his head this way and that. "Bloody hell. . ."

A smirk tugged at his lips as he realized he looked far more better than he had before, but the thought was over ruled when he noticed something emerging from his back.

Craning his neck slowly, his eyes caught sight of the feathery appendages now present on his back. Eyes widening a fraction as he turned back to look at the mirror. He thought better of his current action and retreating back into his room.

He switched from his bathroom mirror to the one standing in the corner of his room. Hesitantly spreading the new appendages, he got a good look at the tawny feathers covering his new wings that expanded 15 and a half feet from wing tip to wing tip.

Giving an experimental flap, he smiled as he rose from the ground and nearly went through the ceiling.

_'Damn. . .These things have a lot of strength in them. . .'_ he though amusedly. Grinning at new possibilities, he decided against any course of action until he got an explanation from his parents . . . And a haircut .

* * *

Like Draco, Bryony had similar troubles, despite being miles away.

"You look beautiful, Bry" Karrerra commented, watching as her godchild expected her new self critically in front of her vanity mirror while she herself was perched on the bed. "You are very fortunate."

"Uh huh. . ." Bryony said reflexively, not really hearing what the elder Veela had said save for the last word. _Fortune_. _Destiny_. She always hated that.

Her brows were furrowed as she inspected her own transformation, though she knew what happened when Veelas or in rarer cases, Part-Veelas transformed, but she had never expected this for herself.

Her once choppy, shoulder-length hair now cascaded down her back in a smooth, dark waterfall. Her height, originally being 5'5 was now 5'7 and her body was more toned and her stomach now flat, not to mention her curves had fully matured overnight, making her now very self-conscious for the time being.

"Oh stop fussing! You're Brazilian, and a Veela at that, don't be afraid to flaunt yourself! I know girls who would kill to look like you, maybe we should have you take a side-job as a muggle model. . ." Karrera tittered.

"Tch, fat lot that would do."

"Oh hush! Now, let me see those wings." The elder female snapped, now walking towards Bryony.

The younger girl reluctantly let her wings emerge from her back, spreading them at their full wingspan of 14 feet, thankful for the fact that she had worn a halter-top to bed last night, saving her the trouble of ripping a top. Her feathers were various shades of grey, being a dark grey, almost black, at where they emerged from her back to a lighter shade at the flight feathers.

Karrera smiled and lightly caressed one of the appendages. "Need I remind you that you're wings are now you're most sensitive part? They can bring you the most pleasure, or the worst pain."

Bryony grimaced, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "Please tell me they won't interfere with my Capoeira training."

Karerra rolled her eyes. "It will be your Mate's job to ensure your safety and protection, I don't understand why you took up that muggle hobby." She said disapprovingly. In her book, the daughter of such prestigious bloodline should not be doing such strenuous activities such as Quidditch or that Brazilian Martial Art.

"_Because_ I find it fun and it's great exercise, not to mention good for self-defence." Bryony retorted, pulling her wings back to merge with her body and quickly changing from her night clothes to a loose off-the-shoulder crop top and denim skirt to ward off the heat.

"That my dear, is what _this _is for." The elder Veela said, plucking Bryony's wand from the bed's side-table and holding it out to the youth.

Ebony and Veela-Hair core (donated from her _lovely_ 'Aunt' Karrera), 9 and ¾ inches with silver engraved patterns around the handle and a few wrapping around the sides. Her wand was made by Gregorovitch, which was custom-made for her when her parents took her on a 'business trip' around Europe at the time of her 11th birthday.

Taking her wand from her Aunt as she walked past her to the door, Bryony quickly put on knee-length boots, slipping her wand inside the right boot when she had finished.

Karrera rose and made her way to the door before turning around and observing Bryony's room as the youth sat at the vanity pulling her now-long tresses into a high-ponytail. The crème, silver and black-coloured room wasn't overly large, but it was luxurious none-the less.

Having done her hair and readied herself, Bryony was about to join Karrera at the door before she remembered something.

Doubling back to her side-table, she opened the top drawer and slipped on the pair of fingerless gloves that had been inside. Her Aunt wordlessly watched her before nodding in satisfaction and leading the younger to where her parents awaited.

* * *

"Father, Mother." Bryony greeted respectfully, seeing her parents seated on one of the crème couches.

Though she referred to her mother as Mama in private, or when her father wasn't present, she used utmost formality when the whole family gathered.

It was then that Bryony also noticed a snake curled up on the left arm of the couch, her father's side. She also noticed her father's mark was in clear view due to having pushed up the sleeves of his crisp shirt to his elbows.

_"Hello, Vipera."_ She said in greeting to the Asp that was a good foot long.

The Asp lowered her head in a nod_. "You should sssit."_ She hissed in greeting.

"Sit down, Bryony." Her father said in a tone that meant they had something to discuss, echoing the words of the snake. It was from him that Bryony inherited the ability to talk to snakes, something that she often didn't mind, it was far more useful -at least to her- than her _other_ ability.

Obeying immediately, Bryony took a seat on the couch opposite her parents while Karrera left the room, knowing that this was a family matter. She did smile reassuringly at Bryony before leaving. It wasn't that Valerian Parkinson was abusive or strict; he just issued an air of command that always had Bryony on her 'best behaviour' -more or less.

"Are you feeling well?" Valerian inquired, genuinely concerned.

Bryony nodded with a small smile. "Yes, I feel fine."

Valerian nodded. "You are aware . . . That we will be sending you to Hogwarts this year, correct?"

Bryony let out a sigh, she had assumed as much.

"We will go to England with you, of course, but I'm afraid we can't stay the whole time and we will be leaving you with your Aunt and Uncle."

She perked up immediately. "Aunt and Uncle? Pansy's family?" she asked hopefully. When she received a nod from her mother in confirmation, she cheered inwardly. She had missed her cousin, knowing that Pansy attended Hogwarts too and was in Slytherin house.

Bryony personally had no qualms against being in the same house as her. After all, it _was_ the house of Deatheater families,it was to be expected.

Valerian continued to explain further more about the school and houses and what he expected from her. Reminding that her performance at school also reflected on her family.

She merely went along with it, until she heard something that had her questioning.

"Do not forget, there are also plans which you must aid. There are things that will take place, which require the aid of those of power. Those are the Dark Lord's orders." Valerian told her. "Mark my words, child, you are destined for something great. Your _Gift _is proof of that."

Bryony scoffed at that, becoming angered at her father's words. "Plan? Orders? Destiny?" she shook her head. "I always hated those words. I never chose this, this was never what I wanted." She hissed in distaste, abandoning her previous act of respect.

Valerian regarded her gravely, yet it was clear he wasn't pleased. "Then what is it you want? Would you rather being born as a Squib? Having no powers at all, no inheritance so to speak? That would have made us a laughing stock!"

"I want a life that is mine!" she answered, her voice rising, causing both Vipera and her mother-who had yet to say anything-to raise their heads. "A life that belongs to me, not controlled by destiny, fortune or fate! "

She shook her head as a grim smile crossed her features.

"And as for my so-called _gift_?" she looked down at her glove-covered palms. " It's both a blessing, and a curse."

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter disappointed you :(**

**Another thing, on my profile I have links to pictures of Bryony's house in Rio, the outfit she would be wearing on the train (don't complain that its too formal and looks like something a spoiled girl would wear,it will be explained in a later chapter!), and her Hogwarts uniform.**

**Leave a review, it inspires me to write more, also comment on any ideas that could possibly happen later in the story!**

**~MidnightRaven323**


	3. Portkeys and Pug Face

**Sorry for the long wait but hey, it's the longest chapter so far. Big thank you to the few who have reviewed and followed this story :) For some reason, the first few chapters of my new stories are never the best. . .**

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_**~Dragon's Flower~**_

"I believe we owe you an explanation."

Draco had to bite his tongue to prevent a _'You don't say?'_ from escaping his lips. Instead he resorted to nodding at his father while Narcissa quietly sipped from the teacup she held in her hands.

The small family had congregated in the library, all of them sitting on wooden chairs with plush seats that were placed around a carved mahogany table. Books occupied two whole walls while the sunlight that shone through breaks in the clouds from the storm the night before filtered through the tall windows and provided natural light.

"Well?" Draco didn't mean to snap, but ever since he woke up that morning with a changed appearance, he had been restless and felt somewhat incomplete. As if there was a piece of him missing, like part of his soul had drifted away and he needed to find it again.

Lucius regarded his son with hardly any surprise. "You, my son, are a Veela, a pureblooded one at that. Not a single drop of tainted blood runs through your veins."

Of all the things he had expected his father to say, that particular phrase was low on his list of expectations. If he were to rank it out of all his expectations, it would have been somewhere between learning his family were related to the Weasleys' and being told he was to be betrothed to that Muggle-born Granger girl.

A mixture of emotions crossed his face before settling on surprise. Male Veelas were almost unheard of. He himself knew that just barely a handful had attended or were attending Beauxbatons but he knew of no others that were common knowledge. The majority of Veela race were strictly female, leading early scholars to believe that the mystical race would die out due to lack of male offspring being produced or inheriting the gene, forcing the original bloodline to be diluted by other races and eventually having all traces of Veela blood being bred out of them.

For him to find out his blood was completely untainted by Wizard or Muggle blood should have been impossible.

"But. . .I was able to be accepted in Hogwarts, gain a wand and do magic. How would that even be possible if I were a different creature altogether?" Draco asked. If what his father was telling was true then _logically_, he couldn't even be called a wizard.

Lucius saw the look of disbelief in his son's eyes and explained further. "The bloodlines of your mother and myself can be traced back to the original founders of the Veela race." Draco glanced at his mother out of the corner of his eye as Lucius continued. "That fact alone rejects any Wizard or Muggle blood that would have mixed into the family, especially after you came to your Inheritance. As for you being accepted in Hogwarts, you forget that blood and Magic are two completely different things. Muggle-borns are accepted if they can use magic, even with non-magical parents, and Squibs can be born into even the most prestigious of pureblood families; why would a Veela possessing magic be any different?"

That was actually a very good point. . .

"Now that I have explained how this happened, you should know of what else is to come." Lucius drawled, as if he was tiring of explaining everything right from the beginning. "You have obviously noticed the change in your appearance." To which Draco nodded. "And. . . the wings?"

This time the older Malfoy glanced at his wife. Narcissa nodded, having looked over her son's tawny feathers shortly after having a house-elf trim Draco's lengthened hair. "15 and a half feet wing-span." Narcissa informed proudly, placing her now empty cup delicately upon the mahogany table.

Lucius nodded approvingly. "Not only that, but take note of how protective, territorial and possessive you may become. Watch your temper, especially after finding your Mate."

A golden brow rose as Draco questioned further. "Mate?" he repeated.

"All Veelas have mates. They complete you . . .You've been feeling as if a piece of you has gone missing as of late, correct?"

"Yes."

"That would be the part your Mate would fill. She would be your anchor, your everything. Neither of you could live without the other. A Veela's greatest asset to finding their chosen Mate is their scent: It's your best chance of locating them. You should also know that you don't get to choose who your Mate will be, it has already been decided by Fate. She could be anyone, anywhere, though there is a high –if not definite- chance she would be at your school, you have no say in who it will be."

"And what if she doesn't like me?" The younger blonde huffed, pushing stray hairs out of his silvery-grey eyes.

"Then make her like you, unless you both wish to die."

* * *

Bryony found herself on the balcony outside her room after retreating back to the East Wing of their sprawling two-story home. She sighed in contentment as the warm breeze spiralled around her. She was uneasy, she had not only spoken out of turn against her father, but also questioned the motives of the Dark Lord. She practically loathed her so-called 'Gift'. Sure it could be useful at times, but if knowledge spread of it, she would be prone to the dangers of those who wanted her sight for themselves.

She had no control over it, though it was mostly triggered through the palms of her hand coming into contact with other people. For this reason she kept them covered by fingerless gloves. Still, some visions would come unbidden without warning.

A light rap at the open glass door separating her room from the balcony jolted her out of her thoughts. Karerra leaned against the open doorway with an uncharacteristically serious face instead of her usual doting demeanour.

"When you arrive at your cousin's place. . .I think it would be in your best interest to just go with whatever Valerian says." Karrera advised. "Selene had told me to remind you that the Portkey will be leaving soon, are your bags packed? Have the house-elves take them now."

Bryony nodded as she pushed away from the balcony railing and gestured to two Louis Vuitton trunks –one for Hogwarts and the other for Home- as well as three other bags of the same designer brand packed and ready.

"Miri and Dusky will take them." Just as she said that, the two house-elves appeared with a faint _pop_. The two elves were clad in makeshift clothes made out of pillow cases no longer used by the family. One had dark-green vines embroidered on a paler green background while the other had a dark red design on a peach coloured background.

Karerra had always insisted on their house-elves being more presentable than others saying:' If they wear dirty rags cleaning and cooking for the house, than imagine the filth!'

"Mistresses." They curtsied in greeting to their superiors.

"To Parkinson Manor, Nimue's Haven, England, if you please." Bryony instructed softly as her Aunt laid out a different set of clothes on the bed.

"Of course, Miss." Dusky's squeaky voice answered as she and Miri gathered shared the bags between them and vanished again with another fain _pop_.

"You have. . ." Karerra checked the diamond studded watch on her wrist. "Fifteen minutes to make yourself presentable."

"Bloody hell!" Bryony swore violently as she quickly jumped to it and rushed to put on the more formal travelling clothes Karerra had prepared. 'Presentable' didn't mean throwing on a T-shirt and jeans to cover herself. 'Presentable' meant wearing appropriate clothes and having her hair and make-up -much to her distaste- done as well.

Six minutes later Bryony placed a dark-grey coat over the thermal long-sleeved shirt and slim-fitting pale blue jeans she had worn. Her father had told her earlier before that England's climate was colder than that of Brazil at this time of year so she had dressed accordingly.

She slipped her feet back into the boots she had worn earlier in addition to the gloves she still had on to complete the ensemble. Karerra whipped out her mahogany wand and muttered spells under her breath to have her godchild's hair fall in soft curls while the girl moved around to add mascara and coat her lips in gloss to finish the look.

"Done!" Karerra announced as Bryony sighed in relief. "And with one minute to spare!" she added.

"_Bryony! Hora de deixar"_

Selene's voice caused Bryony to laugh a bit before fare-welling her aunt. "_Adeus tia Karerra_" she said, hugging the older woman. "I hope to see you soon."

"_Adeus." _Karerra said simply in return. "Off you go, and I wish you the best of luck finding our Mate!"

Bryony smiled and hugged her for once more before taking one last look around her room. It would be a long time until she stood once again inside the crème, silver and black themed room. She flung open the doors to the balcony and inhaled deeply, relishing the tropical smell of fruit and spice that she had come to love. With one last look over the view of Rio and gaze directed up at the great form of Christ the Redeemer watching over the city, she took in everything in and committed it to memory before leaving in search of her parents.

She soon found them standing around the coffee table in the formal lounge.

"That's the portkey?" she asked in shock. There, placed right in the centre of the class coffee table, was the silver figurine of a snake with emerald eyes. "All this time. . . That's been our link to the other half of the family?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Valerian answered plainly, eyes never leaving the silver snake as he waited for the figurine to glow.

Bryony felt a chill run up her spine as Vipera appeared seemingly out of nowhere and made herself comfortable around the younger Parkinson's neck. _"Explains why it'sss sssometimes there and sssometimes not, yesss?" _the Asp hissed.

"_Yeah."_ Bryony hissed in return. When she was younger she often wondered where the figurine disappeared to when it's perch on the coffee table became empty. It would be there one hour, then gone the next. It use to be a game to find out when it vanished and appeared again.

"Now!" Selene exclaimed as the silver snake began to glow.

As Bryony extended her hand to touch the snake's tail, Vipera slithered down her harm to touch the tip of her snout to the figurine's head. The elder two also found places to touch the snake as it shone at it's brightest and their fingers seemed glued to it.

"_Adeus Rio."_ Was the last thing Bryony said before she was pulled along with her parents to their new location.

* * *

Whenever the silver snake disappeared from their formal lounge it must have been on display in the other Parkinsons' main entrance because that was where they found themselves.

The walls of the main entranced were dark-wood panels matching the flooring. The majority of the space was taken up by a large, weeping staircase that lead to the upper levels. The space between the stairs was occupied by a table with a tall porcelain vase of white Calla lilies . two doors that assumingly lead to different parts of the manor were also seen just in front of wither sides of the stairs.

"Glad to know that you have arrived!" Vale Parkinson's welcoming voice cut through the silence. There was no question that the man was definitely Valerian's brother. Not only were their names similar, but their build and dark hair and eyes were also similar, yet not entirely so. Vale was older by a few years, with slightly greyer hair but a broader build. In comparison, Valerian was younger and had a leaner build than his older brother.

At Vale's arm was a fairly short woman with chestnut-brown hair and a cute, upturned nose -probably where Pansy got her nose from- but had a gentle look in her forest green eyes. Selene would most likely get along splendidly with her.

Following after the pair was none-other than Pansy. It seemed as if the girl had grown into her 'pug-face' looks and now it didn't seem at all that horrible.

The trio were dressed semi-formally, in comparison to the other family's travelling attire.

Introductions were made and the adults went away up the sweeping stairs and took a right, leaving the 'children' to their own devices.

As soon as the sound of a door closing was heard, all sense of formality dropped between the girls and they turned to each other with mischief in their eyes.

"So how's life been for you, Brazilian Bitch?" Pansy sneered. "Still living in a muggle city? It's a disgrace to our family!"

"It's been absolutely divine." Bryony smirked. "What about you Pug-Faced Pig? Still living in this wizarding village in the middle of nowhere so no one can see your horrid face?"

Hazel eyes clashed with forest-green as the two became in a fierce stare-off.

It only lasted two minutes before they both burst out laughing.

"By Merlin have I missed you!" Pansy exclaimed in between bursts of laughter. She threw an arm around her cousin to give her a one-armed hug before leading the way up the stairs. "Come on, we can talk in my room, the house elves have already set your things in another room so don't worry about those."

Bryony only managed to give the older girl (only by a month!) a nod, unable to stop grinning.

Instead of going right like their parents had, Pansy took them left, up a flight of stairs and into the third door on the right.

While Bryony's room had neutral colours, Pansy clearly showed her Slytherin pride as green and silver colours dominated the room.

They flopped onto Pansy's circular bed at one end of the room, landing on crushed-velvet sheets and ruining the perfectly made bed.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Bryony complained, sitting up. "How long's it been? Five. . .Six years? "

"Woah!" Pansy smiled, sitting upright and facing her younger cousin. "You have an accent!" she exclaimed.

Bryony raised a brow at the exclamation. "You do as well."

"No, I mean you have a foreign one. You're in Great Britain now, everyone around here will sound like me so technically speaking, t's you who has an accent." Pansy countered.

"Eh." Bryony dismissed the thought. "So how have you been? I mean. . .you've definitely grown into your 'pug-face' and the sleek bob suits you." she grinned.

"Me? You've matured as well, what happened to the flat-chested girl who would pay tricks on everyone?"

"_She_ grew up. Now answer the question!"

"I've been pretty good. I mean, in school I'm actually the 'leader' you could say of the girls in my house." Pansy shrugged.

"Speaking of school. . .I believe I'll be joining you in Hogwarts this year. "

"Honest to Merlin?" Pansy demanded, her voice rising a few octaves. Holding her cousin by her shoulders, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Honest to Merlin" Bryony repeated.

Still, Pansy didn't seem full convinced.

"_Cross you're heart and do not lie,  
If so by Devil's hand do you die?"_

Bryony's eyes widened a fraction as Pansy brought up the old promise line they had made up. They thought of it spontaneously while over-hearing to warlocks talking about religion. Between them it was the closest promise they had besides the Unbreakable Vow.

"_A heart crossed once then twice,  
A lie shall never so entice."_

The reply that was given basically meant that a lie wouldn't be spoken through her lips. It was a reassurance that the answer would be truthful.

Pansy nodded approvingly. "Do you know what house you want to be in?"

"_Slytherin of course."_

Bryony winced as Pansy's shrill scream threatened to shatter glass as Vipera slithered into view.

"Slytherin I suppose." Bryony echoed the snake's words, lightly stroking Vipera's onyx scales as the snake curled around one of the bedposts.

Pansy eyed the reptile in caution, deciding that it wouldn't harm her. "Good, that's my house, as I'm sure you know. The guys can be complete gits, though it's the girls you should worry about. They won't take to kindly to a. . .Sixth Year?" She questioned. After receiving confirmation she continued. "Right, a Sixth Year transferring and upsetting the order of things. They'll try to drive you out most likely, but I'm sure we can put them in their place."

"Not to worry, I'm sure we will."

* * *

**Thoughts on this chapter? **

**In case you were wondering, I made up the location name for Pansy's home, Nimue's Haven was loosly based on Godric's Hollow. Nimue was the witch who raised Merlin who fell in love with him as he became an adult, she was sometimes known as Niniane or Viviane. Just a bit of info for you there.**

**Also, here are the Portugese to English translations~  
_'Bryony!Hora de dexiar!'_ = Bryony!It's time to leave!  
_'Adeus tia Karerra.'_ = Goodbye Aunt Karerra.  
_'Adeus'_ = Goodbye.**

** For future reference, long REVIEWS make this authoress very happy :D Forgive any mistakes, this is completely Un-Beta'ed**

**~MidnightRaven323**


	4. Tropical Spice

**Sorry for the long wait, I wasn't sure how to continue. But hey, the long awaited meeting is here to make up for the wait!**

* * *

**_~Dragon's Flower~_**

"Are you excited?" Pansy asked curiously, taking a bite of her scrambled eggs on toast. She cocked a delicate brow at her cousin seated on the opposite side of the table.

Bryony shrugged, enjoying the hash browns on her plate. "Nervous is more like it. I don't know what to expect; that bothers me."

"Oh yes. . .Homeschooling, that's right. . ."

The two girls were making the most of a sunny day, opting to have their breakfast outside in the rose garden. The red, white and pink blossoms were made ever-green by an enchantment, their fragrance filling the air with a sweet smell all year 'round.

As their conversation ceased, the faint trickling of a fountain could be heard.

Three weeks had passed since Bryony's arrival at her relative's house. The majority of the first week was spent catching up with Pansy, and trying to navigate her way around the unfamiliar mansion. At the end of the second week her parents had bid farewell, wishing her well on her studies before using the portkey to go back to Brazil. At least, her mother had. Her father had put a hand on her shoulder and said "Do not disappoint us." Though in truth she was sure he meant "Do not disappoint me." But to her joy, he had allowed her to keep Vipera with her at Hogwarts. The third week was spent ordering school supplies for the house elves to fetch and purchasing new robes for the year.

Though,they hadn't gone to Diagon Alley for their fitting -to Bryony's disappointment. Instead they'd had someone come into the mansion to do the fitting and have the robes sent to them.

The previous night they had finished packing their stationary and text books, as well as going through their wardrobes and choosing which clothes/outfits to take or not to take to Hogwarts. Well, Pansy did anyway. Bryony on the other hand just put her school supplies in the now empty trunk that use to contain the things that she had now unpacked into her room while her other trunk had already been packed since Rio.

"Hey Pans, what's the date today?" Bryony asked, washing down her breakfast with a glass of water.

". . ." Pansy counted off the days on her fingers. She froze in mid-count."The 31st."

"And tomorrow we're off to Hogwarts, wonderful." Bryony sighed. _'Bloody brilliant, probably going to get sorted with the first years. If that's not embarrassing, I don't know what is.'_

"_Bloody hell!"_ Pansy exclaimed, bolting out of her seat. "I still have shoes to pack!"

* * *

"Splendora or Gucci?" Pansy asked quickly, holding up two pair of high-heeled shoes.

Bryony inclined her head to the left slightly, trying to see why her cousin was fussing so much over shoes she most likely wouldn't even need. "What's the difference? Can't you just take both?"

Pansy threw her an incredulous look as her jaw dropped. "Splendora is one of the most expensive designer brands in the wizarding world, and these wedges are practically screaming _'Pick me Pansy, pick me!'_ " Her voice rose an octave at the end. "But on the other hand, these Gucci stilettos are drop dead gorgeous and look fabulous on me, _but _they're a muggle brand! Of course I can't take both! " She snapped.

Bryony groaned and buried her face into one of Pansy's pillows. "Please tell me you're joking." Though her voice was muffled, there was clearly a pleading tone in it. "Just flip a coin." Reaching into her jean pocket she tossed the distressed girl a galleon. "Heads, Splendora. Tails, Gucci."

Pansy looked at the galleon in her hand doubtfully.

With a deep breath, she tossed the galleon into the air and time seemed to slow as it began to fall. With a barely audible _'thud' _it landed on the carpeted floor. Pansy leaned over to see what the galleon had fallen as. . .

And the head of a dragon with outstretched wings was her answer.

"Tails, Gucci it is then."Bryony stated, satisfied that the petty matter had been resolved. "Don't worry Pans, no one will notice the difference."

"Hn." Pansy nodded, chucking the Splendora heels back into her wardrobe, not caring where they fell and putting the chosen pair into the safety of one of her trunks. She began rummaging around her closet a few more moments, re-emerging this time with two pairs of pumps in hand. "Which colour?"

Bryony stared blankly at the pumps being held out to her. "They're the same colour."

"_So you see my dilemma!"_

* * *

Hours seemed to pass by in a blur as a dozen more pairs of shoes -the majority being high heels- were sorted and last minute accessories safely stowed away, their packing was officially complete. During that time, house elves had brought up food from the kitchen to fuel energy needed to go through what Bryony dubbed 'Pansy's mountain of junk'.

She didn't say it to her cousin's face, and some items were actually quite pretty -but still. It cluttered up space, so therefore, it was junk.

During that time, Pansy sometimes ranted about three people she called the Golden Trio. Whatever that meant anyway. Apparently the Slytherins really hated them. Especially since they were Gryffindor, their rival house.

"Say. . .Do you remember when we were little, you use to predict my future with those tarot cards Great Aunt Sybella gave you?" Pansy asked, blowing a strand of dark brown hair out of her face.

"You mean the cards we would also make houses of cards out of?" Bryony clarified, receiving a nod in return. "Yeah, I remember those times. Too bad I lost the cards that summer I visited here."

To her surprise, Pansy pulled out said-cards from her side table drawer. "You didn't lose them. . .I kind of borrowed them because I wanted to know how they worked." She offered in explanation.

Both girls moved to sit cross-legged at the foot of Pansy's bed.

"The cards serve as props, it's the reader that gathers what they mean. Unless you know what to do with them, they'd be useless. " Bryony said, a moment of wisdom shining through as she shuffled the old cards effortlessly.

"Yeah well. . .I was young and naïve!" Pansy scoffed, watching closely as Bryony spread the shuffled cards into an arc on the floor, all facing down.

"What do you want to know? Make sure it's a fairly simple question, I'm a bit rusty so I'm using a simple three-card spread."

Pansy pondered this. What to ask, what to ask? She knew that her cousin's divination abilities have always been scarily accurate, and she was aware of the visions Bryony would get when she would touch someone with her bare palms. Due to these restrictions, she asked something most girls would want to know about a certain someone. . . And her someone was a certain tall, dark and handsome Italian.

"There's this guy. . .one of my mates actually. . ." Pansy began. "I want to know what our relationship is."

Bryony eyed her calculatingly, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "Choose three cards, and move them up towards you." She instructed.

Pansy did so, using her index and middle finger to draw the cards towards herself. After she had done so, Bryony swept up the remaining cards and stacked them to the side.

"This first card represents you. . ." Bryony began, revealing the face of the first card. "The Star. The Star means hopes and aspirations, confidence and vigor." Pansy beamed proudly. "_But_. . ." Pansy's face fell at the 'but'. "It also signifies stubbornness, and the difficulty to adapt to changes."

"Pfft." Pansy scoffed. Stubbornness she could understand, but difficulty to adapt to changes? Whatever! None the less, she continued to listen as Bryony moved onto the second card.

"This card stands for him, the guy you seem to fancy. . ." She blatantly ignored Pansy's scowl and flipped the card. "The Emperor. That means success or strong person. Management of material affairs, and authority. It also seems he has a dislike for authority, and is lacking trust in someone at some point. "

"Sounds like him." Pansy said, thinking over what the lack of trust meant. Did he not trust someone? If it was her best guess it would be in his mother, apparently Bianca Zabini had been keeping less and less contact with her son. Poor Blaise. . .

"Anyways, this last card is your relationship."

Pansy immediately snapped to attention as Bryony flipped over the final card

Bryony raised a brow and grinned when she saw the outcome. "The Lovers~" She said teasingly, grinning even wider at the faint blush on Pansy's cheeks.

"Shut up! I'm sure there's going to be some big negative draw back to this!" The bob-haired girl snapped.

"Intuitive choices and true relationship." Bryony responded. "Also internal conflict and contradiction . . .But you know what they say ;_Opposites attract_."

* * *

"Rise and shine, Cousin Dearest! It's 9:30am!"

Bryony flinched as Pansy's voice invaded her hearing and light flooded her room as Pansy threw open the curtains. "Goddamnit, Pans. Five more minutes. . .Make that fifteen." She burrowed deeply into her sheets.

"Sure. . .I could do that." Coldness quickly replaced warmth as Pansy snatched the sheets off Bryony's half-asleep body. "_If_ you don't mind being late for your first day of Hogwarts that is. We have a train to catch."

At that, Bryony jumped up and began to get ready, a string of foreign words flowing from her mouth. Pansy had spent enough time around her spit-fire cousin to know all of them were curse words.

Half an hour later, the two of them had joined Pansy's parents in the entrance hall. They were accompanied by two house elves who were waiting with their trunks, while the girls themselves had a bag each. Pansy was bringing along a Splendora purse to make up for leaving behind the stilettos earlier, while Bryony was bringing a Luis Vuitton hand bag to match her trunk. Both had an Undetectable Extension Charm cast upon them by Pansy's mother.

Between them, there were four trunks and two bags.

And a snake, considering Vipera had been coaxed into staying in Bryony's bag. . .At least until they got on the train.

Everything from then onward was quite smooth. They had used side-along apparition to apparate into an unused room at King's Cross Station, at which they had said farewell to Pansy's parents. They had business to attend to and it wouldn't do well to be mixed up with others that didn't have as quite a Pureblood status.

After that, the girls had been left on their own, setting a brisk pace to the barrier that separated the muggle station to Platform 9 ¾ . Their heeled shoes made audible clicks as they pushed their trolleys containing their trunks towards the barrier.

"Please remind me while I'm wearing heels like you." Bryony said.

"The things we do to look good." Pansy answered. "And you need to look good since this will be your first time meeting everyone. First impressions are everything."

'_The first thing they'll think is a spoiled rich girl. . .Okay, that's not that far from the truth, but still. . .Actually that could be a good thing, let them underestimate me, just in case.'_ Her thought came to an abrupt halt as Pansy stopped in front of what seemed like a brick wall.

"Why stop?" She questioned.

"This is the barrier." Pansy answered, checking around to see if there was anyone watching.

"You're joking."

"No I'm not." Pansy turned around to face her and cocked her head to the wall. "You go first."

"Excuse me?" Bryony didn't think she heard right.

"Run. Through. The. Barrier." Pansy said, as if talking to a child. "Best to get it over with if you're new -which you are."

Bryony looked at her doubtfully, before facing the 'barrier'. "Here goes nothing. . ." Making sure no one was watching one last time, Bryony ran at the wall with her eyes closed, bracing herself for an impact that never came.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a scarlet train through a haze of white steam. The Hogwarts Express.

When the steam cleared, she could see the platform was bustling with activity.

Parents were saying goodbye to their children, some were moving about looking for their friends, others were boarding the scarlet train and she swore she saw someone riding a broomstick.

"Welcome to Platform 9 ¾ " Pansy said, coming up behind Bryony. "It's like this every year." She added, leading them to where a wizard was loading trunks onboard.

They handed over their luggage, but took their bags with them as they boarded the train. Pansy led them to an empty compartment and motioned for Bryony to sit down.

"Stay here, I'll be back. I'm going to see if my friends are here already." Pansy said, staying back at the compartment door.

"Is that your way of saying 'Stay here, I don't want people to know I'm related to you'?"Bryony teased.

"Haha very funny." Pansy said dryly. "Stay put, you don't have to pretend to be nice unless it's someone from Slytherin, okay?"

"So that's Pansy for saying 'Feel free to be a bitch, these people are below you.'?"

"Of course."

And with that, Pansy left her sight and the train's whistle sounded.

Barely a few minutes passed as a small group of five stopped outside her compartment. A bushy haired girl, a red haired boy, a dark-haired boy with glasses, a long-haired girl with misty eyes and another boy with a round face.

"Excuse me, do you mind if we sit here? " the boy with glasses asked. "Everywhere else is already filling up or have saved seats for friends."

Bryony shrugged and removed her bag from beside her. "Sure."

As the group filed in, she remembered Pansy's words but shrugged them off. No point in being a bitch to people she didn't even know.

The misty-eyed girl sat next to her, the bushy haired girl directly across from her with dark-haired boy and the redhead while the round-faced boy sat beside the misty eyes girl.

The bushy-haired girl observed her for a few moments, before speaking up when the others didn't. "I don't think we've ever seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Yeah." Bryony responded.

"Well in that case, I'm Hermione Granger, that's Harry, Ron, Neville, and Luna." She pointed to each person in turn. " We're all Sixth Years."

"I'm Bryony, I'll be a Sixth Year as well." She introduced herself. Common courtesy after all.

Hermione's eyes widened a fraction and the others also looked at her curiously. "You have an accent!" She exclaimed. "I didn't hear it before, since you gave a one-worded answer. You're foreign aren't you, you sound Latin-American, where are you from?"

"A bit rude shouting that out, ain't it 'Mione?" Ron commented. He hushed up quickly when she glared at him.

"I was raised in Rio De Janeiro, though I have family in England." Bryony explained, not seeing any harm in letting them know at least that much.

"Rio? Brazil?" Hermione questioned further.

"That sounds lovely." Luna said dreamily." The beaches and warm weather must be nice."

Bryony nodded. "They were."

* * *

Draco leaned back against the compartment seat, his eyes drifted close as he caught a strange but not entirely unwelcomed scent. "She's here. On the train." There was definitely a spicy smell but also. . .something tropical, like fruit. Was it mangoes?

Blaise raised his head to look at his best friend. "Who's here?"

"_Who do you think?"_ Draco half-growled.

The dark-haired and dark-skinned Italian boy held his hands up in mock surrender as he eyed the blonde-haired Veela cautiously, He was aware of the Malfoy heir's predicament. Draco was his best mate after all. "Control yourself, Drake. Can't have you on a warpath ; Might scare her away."

The compartment door opened and the smirking face of Pansy appeared, "Is this how you greet an old friend?"

"Hey" Blaise greeted, on behalf of himself and Malfoy, who seemed to still be restless.

"So how was your holidays?" Pansy inquired, placing her bag on the rack above their heads and seating herself next to Blaise, across from Draco..

"Fine, I spent the time in our villa in Milan." Blaise answered, then shot a glance at Draco. "Though Draco seemed to have an interesting time just staying at home."

Draco ignored the comment. He could smell scent on heavily on Pansy, though it wasn't coming from the brunette girl. It was making him even more restless as it dissipated into the compartment air.

"Pansy. . .Were you with anyone before coming here?" Draco asked carefully.

Pansy's faced paled as she remembered that she had practically abandoned her cousin in a compartment.

Alone.

Surrounded by people she wouldn't know.

She swore viciously before taking off out of their compartment, leaving a stunned Blaise and amused Draco in her wake.

* * *

Bryony almost jumped when the compartment door slammed open and a slightly panting Pansy appeared,

"Parkinson, what the bloody hell do you think you're doin' here?" Ron snarled, not masking his distaste for the Slytherin girl.

Pansy's eyes hardened and turned cold when she saw the other occupants of the room. "I should be asking you that,Weasel. Blood traitors like you shouldn't be within 5 meters of a Pureblood. " Her eyes then switched to Hermione. "Mudbloods shouldn't even be on the same train."

"You shouldn't be saying that, it was you who came to our compartment." Harry retorted, not standing for the verbal abuse directed as his friends.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Potter. My cousin and I were here first." Pansy sneered.

"_Cousin?"_

Ignoring the question, Pansy turned to Bryony. "Sorry, Bry. I didn't think that this lot would crowd here."

All heads turned to Bryony, who waved of the apology. "I don't care, I take it you found your friends then?" She picked up her bag, ready to follow the older girl away since there was no chance that Pansy wanted to be in the company of these people.

"Yeah, come on, we'll sit with them instead." Pansy moved out of the way as Bryony began to exit.

"Nice meeting you all." Bryony called over her shoulder, passing her cousin who was glaring at the others.

With one last sneer, Pansy turned on her heel and led the way.

As they were leaving, Bryony barely heard Neville say "When she said she had family in England, I didn't think she meant Parkinson."

* * *

"What do you think that was all about?" Blaise asked curiously, throwing an arm over the back of the seat.

"Dunno." Draco said flatly, watching the scenery fly by through the window.

Five minutes had gone by until the brunette returned, but not alone. Dragging a brunette with lighter highlights behind her, Pansy slid open their compartment door and released her hold on the other girl and began introductions.

"Boys, this is my cousin Bryony. She'll be starting Hogwarts this year, she'll be in our year." Pansy began. "Bry, this is-"

"Blaise Zabini." Blaise introduced himself, extending a hand in greeting.

To Pansy's surprise, Bryony removed the ever-present gloves covering her palms before moving to accept Blaise's out stretched hand.

The result was instantaneous.

Watching as Blaise placed a kiss on the back of her hand, a misty haze settled over Bryony's eyes the second their hands made contact.

_The next thing she knew, she was watching two people fighting._

"_Why?! When did you get this?!" The girl demanded, tears flowing freely from her green eyes. _

"_The same time the rest of them did! Montague, Flint and the others. . .I did it for the same reason as them! " By now the second figure had pulled his sleeve down to cover the Mark now branding his forearm, and was restraining the girl by her shoulders._

"_And what reason is that?!" The girl cried, trying in vain not to let her anger get the best of her._

"_To protect our families!" The dark-skinned boy replied, his voice lowering as he continued. "And the ones we love. . .Montague's doing all he can to keep Johnson and her mother safe, as is Flint with Bell and her family. Slytherins and Gryffindors, their Quidditch rivals nonetheless, who'd have guessed? And you Pans. . .you're practically all I have left. My mother doesn't care as long as I'm taken care of. It's just you and me. Always has been, always will be."_

And it stopped as quickly as it started. It seemed that her vision had appeared all in the span of Blaise's greeting.

"_Cousin, eu aprovo este. Ele ѐ bonitiho." _Bryony commented, a smirk tugging at her lips as she shot a sideways glance at her cousin.

"Sh-shut up!"Pansy's face flushed, her cheeks turning red. "Don't judge me!" Sometimes, she really wished she hadn't picked up the language.

"I'm judging you." Bryony responded.

"You have an accent. "Blaise stated, cocking his head. "And that was either Portuguese or Spanish right now, are you from Portugal?"

"Brazil." Bryony clarified. "And that was Portuguese."

He sat back down after that,making a small noise of interest and allowed Pansy to continue her introductions.

* * *

Draco had watched curiously as Pansy came back to their compartment with another girl in tow who seemed to bear a faint resemblance to her. During Blaise's introduction, he had been able to get a better look at the new-comer.

Brown hair had been tied in a low side-ponytail while her outfit consisted of a white tank top, a short leather waist coat, slim-fit black pants and high-heeled boots.

Quite obviously, black was the main colour choice for the majority of Pureblood students, since both himself and Blaise wore either a black suit or coat while Pansy donned in a black turtleneck and slacks, with her own pair of heels.

All thoughts flew out of his head when the scent hit him though. It was that spicy, topical aroma that had driving his inner Veela insane. Now the scent seemed to be even stronger, and the tropical smell was definitely mangoes. It was coming from this girl. His destined Mate.

During Blaise's introduction, he felt a wave of possessiveness overcome him when Blaise had placed a kiss on the back of her hand. He also grew curious when she seemed to space out for a moment, her eyes misting over for a split-second before resuming their usual colour. He would ask her about that later.

"Bry, this is Draco Malfoy. Draco, this is Bryony Parkinson." Pansy continued as Draco took Bryony's hand.

However, instead of having an insight to Draco's future like she had with Blaise, silver-grey eyes and a serpent was what she saw. Just like the night of her transformation.

It was then that she looked into Draco's eyes that she saw the same pair in her vision.

"You. . ."

"You. . ."

* * *

**IMPORTANT**

**New policy, the more reviews I get the faster I'll put up a new chapter. So let's say, if I only get 1-5 reviews, I won't be putting up the next chapter until I have nothing better to do. And that could take awhile, since school is crazy.  
**

**However, if I only get a few reviews that are _long_, then that's a different matter altogether.**

**So either lots of short reviews, or a couple of LONG reviews.**

**Review your thoughts on this chapter please ^.^**

**Translation: (This is from google translate, apologies if it's wrong or inaccurate.)  
_Cousin, eu aprovo este. Ele ѐ bonitiho : Cousin, I approve of this one. He's cute._**

**~MidnightRaven323**


	5. Welcome To The Den of Snakes

**Updated! Though this chapter isn't as long as the previous one since I didn't get too many reviews :( But a big shout out to those that DID review, you guys are the best!  
**

_**~Dragon's Flower~**_

Silver-grey clashed with hazel green as the pair looked at each other.

For that moment, time stood still and everything seemed to halt. The train seemed to stop moving, clouds froze in their places, sounds had ceased and the only thing either one was aware of was the other.

A surprised shout caused them to look away as gasps were heard outside as a cloud of black smoke flooded into the corridor.

With the trance broken, Draco pushed past Bryony and Blaise lept up to see what had happened. But when they slid the door wide open, the black smoke entered their compartment.

"Who's there?" Draco demanded, he himself unable to see through the dark haze. "Blaise?" He questioned his friend.

"I dunno." Blaise answered, also trying to see what had happened.

"Relax, it's probably just a First Year messing around." Pansy groped the air in front of her, catching hold of her cousin's sleeve and forcing Bryony to sit. "Come on boys, sit down. We'll be at Hogwarts soon," she soothed.

Both looked around one last time as the inky darkness cleared. They begrudgingly did so, Blaise sitting beside Pansy and Draco beside Bryony.

"Hogwarts, what a pathetic excuse for a school." Draco scoffed. "Think I'll pitch myself off the Astronomy tower before I have to continue for another two years."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Pansy asked confusedly.

"Let's just say I don't see myself wasting away in Charms class next year."

Blaise sniggered.

"Amused, Blaise?" Draco drawled. Seeing the cold look in his best mate's eyes, Blaise fell silent, not taking his chances against the Veela's wrath. "We'll see just who's laughing in the end."

Unnerved by how quickly the conversation turned dark, Bryony abruptly looked up when she heard Pansy's purse and Draco's bag on the rack move a bit. Staring cautiously at the bag, she dismissed the sound as something she had imagined.

Remembering something in her own bag, she reached down to grab the bag by her feet.

Draco had followed Bryony's gaze, brows furrowing as he had also heard the sound. Was that a flash of a sneaker he had seen?

He turned away when he heard a hiss, his eyes widening just a fraction as an ebony-scaled snake slithered out of Bryony's open shoulder bag and onto her lap. Glancing to the seat across from them, he saw that Blaise had a similar expression.

"_Never again!"_ Vipera hissed furiously, baring her fangs and swaying from side to side.

Bryony nodded mutely, extending an arm and not moving as the asp slithered up her arm to coil around her neck.

"I was wondering when you'd let her out." Pansy commented.

"Was that in your bag the whole time?" Blaise asked incredulously.

"Uh huh." Bryony responded, fingering a snake-skin bracelet on her wrist.

"Cool." Blaise attempted to stroke the snake, but snatched his hand back when Vipera threateningly tried to bite him. ". . .Maybe not."

"It's getting dark, we should change into our robes." Pansy stated, seeing the darkening sky outside the window.

Receiving sounds of agreement, the four of them grabbed their bags and searched for their robes. Draco, Blaise and Pany pulled out black robe with green lining, the crest of Slytherin emblazed proudly on the left side. Bryony pulled out a plain black robe, no house colour lining the inside of hers yet.

"Come on Bry, don't think we should get changed with these prats around." Pansy joked, leaving the compartment with the younger girl in tow.

"So. . .I take it that's her then." Blaise concluded after the girls left.

He received a grunt of confirmation from Draco as the blonde boy changed into the uniform.

"I knew it." Blaise grinned, but then he recoiled when a fist collided with his cheek with no small amount of force.

"If you knew then why'd you touch her you bloody git!" Draco fumed, rallying on the dark-skinned boy.

"Just an experiment. Though I don't think it was worth that though." Blaise grumbled, cupping his injured cheek. "Why'd you go for the face Drake? Not the face!"

Re-taking their seats after changing, they waited for the girls to come back.

They rejoined them shortly and sat back down. Bryony uncoiled Vipera from around her neck, allowing the snake to wrap around her forearm instead, concealed and out of sight with the help of the loose sleeves of the robe.

When the train rolled to the stop, all four of them got up, but only three got out of the compartment.

"You three go on." Draco waved them off. Meeting Bryony's eyes he continued. "I want to check something."

* * *

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_  
_Your top hats sleek and tall,_  
_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_  
_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_  
_The Sorting Hat can't see,_  
_So try me on and I will tell you_  
_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_  
_Where dwell the brave at heart,_  
_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_  
_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_  
_Where they are just and loyal,_  
_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_  
_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_  
_if you've a ready mind,_  
_Where those of wit and learning,_  
_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_  
_You'll make your real friends,_  
_Those cunning folks use any means_  
_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_  
_And don't get in a flap!_  
_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_  
_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

'_A talking hat than can sing. Wonderful.' _Bryony thought dully, trying her best to blend in with the group of first years. Her efforts were in vain, should anyone look her way they would clearly see her first, being taller than the hoard of 11 year-olds.

"Welcome students, new and old." Professor McGonagall greeted. "Before the customary sorting of the first years begins, I would like to inform you of a new Sixth Year transferring to Hogwarts.'

'_Please, kill me now.'_ Bryony internally whined. It was one thing to sort her with first years, it was another for her to be the first sorted.

"Miss Parkinson, if you would." McGonagall called, lifting the battered old Sorting Hat off it's three-legged stool, ready to be placed on her head.

The students nearest the Slytherin table turned the heads to look at Pansy, who flushed hotly and barked out "Not me you bloody morons!"

Opting to get it over and done with, Bryony all but ran up the steps to the Sorting Hat, ignoring catcalls directed at her.

"Easy mate." Blaise tried to calm down Draco, who had arrived just in time for the sorting. He set a hand on the Veela's shoulder as the blonde's hands curled into fists. "Calm, Draco, Calm."

"_Another Parkinson. . .One with Veela ancestry. . .Ah what's this? The gift you have is a blessed curse, how interesting. . ."_

Bryony reflexively flinched when she heard a voice in her head, her hand slipping into her left sleeve to feel the reassurance of Vipera's familiar shape. She relaxed when she concluded that the voice was coming from the Hat.

"_You have fire, and a stubbornness issue it seems . . . Though I suppose that runs in the family." _

Bryony frowned at that, but it was true enough.

"_Those are Gryffindor traits. You possess intelligence and a cleverness about you that could land you in Ravenclaw though. You hate following rules I see, with a cruel streak deep within you. You are unafraid to lie to achieve your ends. . .That deters any hope of Hufflepuff. You are obviously the type who may feel guilty, but regret nothing. A cunning snake you are at heart , better be . . ."_

**"SLYTHERIN!"**

With a relieved smirk, she hopped off the stool and headed towards the cheering table at the right of where the Sorting Hat was.

"Blimey, and I thought she was alright." Ron said to the Gryffindors around him.

"Shows how much appearances can be deceiving." Hermione said, seeing the brunette take a seat beside Pansy be welcomed into the house. "Who knows what people are really like?"

The First years were sorted, the new additions to each house being welcomed accordingly. Though some more than others.

"That was horrible." Bryony stated bluntly, resting her chin on her right arm, still knowing that Vipera was concealed around her left.

"Elbows off the table." Pansy chided, reaching for a treacle tart.

"But I'm not eating anything." _Yet anyways_, Bryony added in her head.

"No, but I am." To prove her point, Pansy polished off the rest of her tart. "Moving on, introductions: You already know Draco and Blaise, the other three are Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Theodore Nott. " She gestured to two large boys and another who was tall and gangly. The newly introduced three were the ones seated closest to them.

Then Pansy gestured further down the table to a three girls: one dark-haired who was clearly wearing make-up, one large, and intimidating and the last a girl with her her brunette hair in a ponytail. "Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracey Davis. You'll be sharing our dorm."

"Wonderful." Bryony said dryly.

The talk and laughter echoing around the hall died away instantly as Dumbledore got to his feet .

"The very best of evenings to you!" He smiled broadly, arms outstretched as if to embrace the whole room.

"What's wrong with his hand?" Bryony asked the ones nearest her. The hand was blackened and dead-looking, as if it belonged to a corpse. She wasn't the only one who noticed.

Whispers swept across the room. Dumbledore took notice and merely smiled, shaking his sleeve over the injury. "Nothing to worry about. Now. . .to our new students, welcome; to our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you. . ."

"Looks like it's died." Pansy muttered.

"But there are some magical injuries you can't cure." Draco said.

". . .And Mr Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Those wishing to play for their house Quidditch teams should give their names to the Heads of House as usual. " That caught Bryony's attention.

"Don't even think about it Bry, girls don't play on our team." Pansy warned.

"It's 'cause they can't afford to break a nail and ruin their oh-so-perfect manicures.." Blaise smirked.

"How sexist." Bryony scoffed and tossed her hair back.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of the staff this year. Professor Slughorn," The professor stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight and his pot-belly casting a shadow on the table below him. " Is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post as Potions master." Dumbledore announced.

"Potions?"

"_Potions?"_

The word bounced around the hall, with students wondering if they heard right.

"Professor Snape, meanwhile, "Dumbledore continued," will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

A loud 'No!' came from the Gryffindor table, coming from Harry who had stood up the same time as the Slytherin table burst into applause.

"Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once again at large and gaining in strength."

Silence seemed to grow taunt and strain as Dumbledore spoke. Bryony snuck a sideways glance at her fellow Slytherins.

Pansy was indulging in a strawberry while listening to the announcements ; Blaise was drinking out of his goblet without a care ; Crabbe and Goyle were discreetly continuing to stuff themselves with food; And Malfoy didn't even seem to be listening, using his wand to levitate his fork in midair.

None of them seemed to be affected by the mention of the Dark Lord, and if they were, they did a good job at hiding it.

"I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff.I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them -in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of the staff immediately. I trust you to conduct your selves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety.

Dumbledore's blue eyes swept over the students' faces before he smiled once more.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say goodnight. Pipi pip!"

* * *

The group of Slytherins headed down to their common room in the dungeons. Turning at one point, they seemed to come up at a dead end, with their current corridor ending in a stone wall.

"Salazar." Draco spoke, facing the dead end.

A door materialized through the stone, of which Blaise pushed open and in a sweeping gesture revealed the common room.

The common room had a dungeon-esque feel to it, with greenish lamps and chairs. A wall completely made of glass showed that the room was part way under the Black Lake, giving the room a greenish tinge. It had lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas, a large fire place of black marble and a dark-wood desk and a table was at one end of the room.

The cold floor was covered with rugs in either silver, black or green, and a soft carpet combining all three lay between the sofas that were in front of the fireplace. The room had a grand feeling, but also a cold one.

"Welcome to the den of Snakes." Blaise grinned, claiming one of the dark green sofas for himself.

"Is it always this cold?" Bryony asked, taking a seat on the other sofa.

"There's no fire burning," With a flick of his wrist, Draco used his wand to set fire to the logs in the fireplace and then took the opposite end of the sofa Bryony was on, throwing an arm over the back of the love seat. "Usually we keep it going to keep the cold away, especially during Christmas."

She was half tempted to scoot closer to the blonde, he seemed to be radiating heat as a living furnace. Not to mention there was a most delicious scent of mint and dark chocolate coming from him. She was just about to lean into him, but then she caught herself last minute.

"_Or_ we use someone else to keep warm, c'mere Parkinson." Blaise smirked, pulling Pansy into his lap.

"Zabini!"

Pansy glared, yet didn't make a move to remove herself from Blaise's lap. Not that she could, now that his hands were snaked around her waist.

A small laugh escaped Bryony's lips. If this happened all the time, she doubted any day would be boring.

Draco resisted the urge to groan aloud, this scent was driving him _insane_. It didn't help that his destined mate was just a few mere centimeters away from him and yet he couldn't do anything about it. He longed to just pull her to him, and have them in the same position Pansy and Blaise were in now, but he couldn't, not yet.

He inwardly cheered when he noticed Bryony's ever-subtle shift into his direction. Good, her sub-conscience already recognizes it's over half.

Just a bit more, and they would be together.

"Come on you lot, we should go to bed."Pansy yawned, her head lolling onto Blaise's shoulder. "We have an early start tomorrow."

* * *

**I can promise you that the next chapter will be considerably longer and have some important Veela info. BUT before it comes out, I'm aiming to it 20, if not 25 reviews before I post the next chapter.**

**Also, if you have any ideas or want to see anything happen within the next few chapters, please add them to your reviews!**

**One more thing, 50th Reviewer will be given an oppurtunity to make an OC to be featured as a transfer student in this story :) So, REVIEW!**

**~MidnightRaven323**


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